The Dark Knight

Just came back from the Dark Knight (FINALLY). I thought it was really good and you should go and see it. Don’t want to throw out any spoilers (even tho most of you must have watched it), so all I can say is it that I think almost everything is rubbish, so this must make it a good film. It definitely shouldn’t be a 12A though. A 15 would be more sensible. I’m 28 and it was a bit much for me at times, pity the young kid (barely 10). i'm sure he'll have nightmare tonight...

my favourite pastime...

I spend so much of my time reading random things on the internet. Sometimes I stumble on interesting random facts, for example:

• There is a piano on the top of Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest mountain, put there by some dundonian removal men in the 1980s.
  
• The world’s first real intercity, passenger-carrying rail service was the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. It used Stephenson’s Rocket as its locomotive and on its opening day in 1830 a Member of Parliament managed to get himself run over and killed by one of the trains.

i have a dream...

Or I should say, I had a dream, last night. I don’t remember what it was about, but it was significant for one reason. Last night, Danny Devito was in my dreams.

I don’t know why he was in my dream. I can’t remember what he was doing in my dream. But he was definitely in my dream. He was most likely playing a quirky cameo role in an offbeat dream I was having though…

Anyway, the question to you my friends is, who was in your dreams last night? Let's throw in a carrot, best answer wins a biscuit.

wordle...

This is pretty cool, a wee app that let’s you visually look at the occurence of words in documents, or in web pages. Stuck my blog in first, not sure how far back it manages to look, think it maybe just looks at all the posts on the first page

Following your dreams...

I just finished reading a lovely book, The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. I wouldn't want to ruin it for you, but the general story is about a shepherd who is happy, but gives up his sheep to pursue his dream of finding a treasure at the Pyramids. He travels far and learns much and eventually realizes that the journey is just as important as the treasure.

I think there are many lessons in this book. As a graduate student, I am focus mostly on my treasure, a Ph.D. Sometimes my goal seemed unattainable and other times tantalizingly close. But i am sure by the end of my Ph.D., I will realize that it is not about getting my thesis to work, it is about the process. Learning how to diagnosis a problem, to research it, and to develop and test solutions. Really all of research is like that. Maybe we start out wanting to understand one thing and along the way another interesting question or finding appears. Do we follow the first direction or the second?

A second lesson from this book is that you should pursue your dreams no matter what and listen to your heart. I started out in industry and didn't like it. I knew that I wanted something else so I return to school and do a PhD. It would have been easy to stay where I was. I don't really make that much more money here than I did in industry with only a BA! and all that time and energy could have been spent elsewhere, but it was what I wanted, so I pursued it.

I think it is really important to listen to your heart and follow it. Probably more important than anything else. Did i just finished reading a non-academic book? damn..better get back to the drawing board & start writing a few lines ;)

everything's gonna be alright...

Strange. Past two months, I've almost been enjoying school. I have no paper deadlines; I don't have to make a mountain out of my teeny result-molehill. I see my supervisor once every fortnight; his crazy-talk bounces off my brain like cartoon bullets. I'm diligently working on my two projects, making progress on implementation and measuring results.

I saw a female faculty in the hallway the other day. Last time I spoke with her, I was in poor shape. She'd given me some advice on the candidature confirmation, finishing the degree, and getting a job. She asked, "How is the confirmation going?" I said, "All done." She said, "Wow! Do you plan on graduating this summer?" I said, "No way jose!"

This is how I thought graduate school was supposed to be. I'm working independently on stuff I enjoy. I'm learning new things. I see a clear end. I know what I need to do to get out. Instead, the first few semesters were torture; I got through them with rage, depression, therapy, and tenacity. The last 2 look like they'll be decent.

I've quoted her before, but she's worth repeating. From Annie Proulx's "The Bunchgrass Edge of the World,"

The main thing in life was staying power. That was it: stand around long enough, you'd get to sit down.

One question: What do I call this blog once I graduate?

good research...

While doing other things I’m in the middle of post-AOIR thinking on research methodologies, ethics and researcher’s responsibilities. I have to do all those other things, but I’m pretty sure that this thinking will surface in writing, sooner or later.

But so far just a quote from Annette Markham (Ethics as method: A case for reflexivity (.pdf)):

• Good qualitative research, online or off,
• is not difficult to find or access,
• it is difficult to formalize.

Good research, online or off, is hard work.
Good research comes from the heart.

Conference anxiety...

I am starting to plan (or not plan) for this year-end conference season, and am filled with anxiety. Mainly, I have research envy. There is a 2-day session at this one conference that has every big-wig and player in my subfield, and I am jealous that I may not make that list. Of course, I am a second-year junior faculty with no data and an empty lab, so I have nothing much to present anyway, but I am still jealous. Totally rational, yes? Also, I read the abstracts and feel alarm because some people are doing research that I want to be doing!

KEEP.WRITE.THESIS.MUST.FINISH.PHD

I’m at work on a Sunday, I need to get my PhD finished. I’ve decided to stick updates on here so you guys can nag me to keep going, cos motivation is very, very, very, very, very, very, very hard to keep up.

Ok so don’t expect regular updates, cos I’m still working to produce results as well as writing up, so the writing will probably be kind of irregular. I have the whole chapter structure mapped out, and I’m sticking it down here more for myself than anything else, so I can tick things off as I go, and I figure if I do it in public it’ll maybe help me get going. This’ll be shorthand so just ignore it, but i’ll tick things off as i go.

1. Intro
2. Literature- half done - aim to finish by end february
3. Conceptual Framework - mapped out/structured easyish to write
4. Data collection - infancy
5. Frequency offset estimation algorithms and implementation
6. Node implementation - NCO parameterised/performance curves trade-offs… - work done by mid march maybe, written up by end (optimistic)
7. Possible intra-net comms extension
8. Conclusions.

Maybe I’ll try for weekly updates / goals. Before I leave today I’m going to have ch.2 properly mapped out, maybe a bit of writing done. Conference Paper to write/finish before wednesday, should be ok, work for it will go into ch.6 so that’s cool.

I’m going to look back on this post one day as Dr Tang, oh yes I will.
Oh, and people who are particularly helpful / motivational may be lucky enough to get a mention in my acknowledgements.

LONG TAIL cut short?

A new study by a marketing professor at Harvard Business School casts doubt on one of the sacred texts of new media - Chris Anderson's 'The Long Tail'.

Anita Elberse looked at data for online purchases of music and video rentals and then compared the data with offline purchase data. In spite of the vast back catalogue of options available online, it seems that online consumers are pretty much like their offline equivalent. Purchases hugely favour a few 'hit' titles - and if anything people online are more likely to focus their spending on popular choices than offline shoppers.

It seems that what we really value is not choice, but the social aspects of consuming the same media as everyone else.

Can't say I'm sorry to see the back of this particular theory - it seemed to me that the same two businesses were always trotted out in support of it (eBay and Amazon) which didn't seem to me to be a conclusive sample.

On the other hand, if the Long Tail is a lie, the online world is a somewhat bleaker place where almost all the micro-publishers, bloggers, video artists and musicians are doomed to a life of obscurity - including your truly...

Beijing bound...

was strolling down Surfers Paradise earlier and bumped into the Australian Olympics Basketball Team having a promotional event in one gaming shop.

NBA star, Andrew Bogut (he plays for Milwaukee Bucks), was part of the entourage.

that's AB (highlighted)

the Aussie swimming team are currently training at my workplace's pool before flying out to KL for acclimatisation before the real thing in Panda-land.

Goodluck folks...

blogging 101...

Life in the blogosphere. I’m still trying to learn the basics of ‘how to blog’ but I think its something I can see myself getting into. I guess this personal weblog will serve as a place I can go to post (hopefully) intelligent ideas, comment on current events, or write about random thoughts. I do read and consider myself pretty well-rounded but my best asset is the fact that I have talented friends whom I regularly draw advice and provocative insights from on a variety of things.

One of my friend (you know who you are)suggested to me that I should start my own weblog, and obviously I decided to take up on the idea.

I guess that should be sufficient for breaking my blogging cherry. More to come later.

Trendspotter...

I attended a corporate debate recently about the importance of generating innovative ideas to stay competitive in the new economy. One of the speaker mentioned the Innovation Challenge and argued that transcending traditional business practices by relying on creativity was most important for spawning originality.

I began thinking about how companies obsess over research and development to ensure their next line of products are innovative. Firms use their best insights to predict what their future customers will demand in the marketplace (Apple predicted that there would be an insatiable demand for digital music players and gave us the iPod).
The common denominator in many innovations is identifying an emerging trend and developing a product/service which will cater to the next big thing. The problem, however, is how do we position ourselves at the right place at the right time to identify these trends before they become too widespread to take advantage of them? One article on trendspotting offers a few suggestions:

• Be curious and obsess about everything.
• Ask yourself why new things are happening and leave no answers unquestioned.
• Look for patterns. What are the links between new ideas, attitudes, and behaviors?
• Seek ideas from other industries and apply them to your own.
• Watch out for counter-trends and their opportunities and challenges.
• Remember that the biggest trends are always a confluence of smaller trends. Dont miss the macro because you’re concentrating on the micro.
• Keep it simple. Start out with what’s individually true and then look for the universal.
• Don’t confuse short-lived fads with major trends.
• Use the history of products and markets as a guide to their future.

These suggestions will hopefully lead us to be more cognizant about the world around us and allow us to identify emerging trends. Generation Y increasingly gets their news, current events, and other information from non-traditional media such as blogs. How will businesses be able to take advantage of this new trend as well as any other emerging trends in the future?

Is he or isn't he joining?

According to the player's agent, Manchester United wants to sign Dimitar Berbatov this summer, just like it was reported back in 2006 before he moved to Spurs. So after two relatively successful seasons playing for the North London club, it seems that the Red Devils have rekindled their interest in the Bulgarian.

While there's question marks about the Bulgarian's choice of clubs, there's even more questions about his suitability to lead United's attack. Many observers say that he's more than a bit lazy, added to which there's been suggestions that he's prone to sulking - nothing particularly unique where footballers are concerned (remember Nic Anelka?).

When comparing United's existing strikers, Berbatov probably has more presence given his stature and he's certainly much more composed than Saha, for whom the exit door will surely beckon once the Bulgarian put pen to papers.

Reports claim that United may well have agreed up to £24m for Dimitar Berbatov, who Spurs signed for just £10m. It was reported that it's a take it or leave it offer. Let's hope that is so because there's no justification for paying silly money for a striker who is seemingly only wanted by the Red Devils - there are no other serious bidders. United may well have been alerted to the news that Samuel Eto'o is reportedly available for just £15m. Like Berbatov, Eto'o comes with a certain amount of baggage, but for just £15m could Fergie be tempted?....

Steve Nash (NBA MVP) wears garbage...

Well…not garbage per say, but pretty close. He is debuting the Nike Trash Talk, the first performance basketball shoe made from manufacturing waste.. Gotta love this. Yes Nike, you are socially responsible (for once minus your sweatshops). You get brownie points:“Any opportunity to promote the environment and preserve our planet is a step in the right direction,” Nash said. “I’m very excited to be one of the first athletes to wear the Nike Trash Talk. I think people will love the shoe, and hopefully by wearing it I can inspire others to try it out as well.”

The Nike Trash Talk meets Nike’s Considered design standards because…The upper is pieced together from leather and synthetic leather waste from the factory floor using zig-zag stitching.The mid-sole uses scrap-ground foam from factory productionThe outsole uses environmentally-preferred rubber that reduces toxics and incorporates Nike Grind* material from footwear outsole manufacturing waste.The Phoenix Suns’ colorways will have shoe laces and sockliners which use environmentally-preferred materials and will be packaged in a fully recycled cardboard shoe box.

Nike is releasing a limited number of the Nike Trash Talk in three different colorways – two Phoenix Suns colorways (home and away) and one colorway for Nash to wear this week for the All-Star Game. The All-Star colorway will be sold at the House of Hoops by Foot Locker in New York and in New Orleans this week with a suggested retail price of $100.

P/S: the author did not receive any fee (or a free pair of nike grind) for this post.

Pringles Crisp? nah mate..it's Pringles Cake

They may crunch like a crisp and taste like a crisp, but Pringles are now officially closer to a cake than a potato snack. In the UK, judges have ruled that Pringles could soon be VAT free after P&G managed to convince law-lords that their addictive crack-snacks are actually cakes.

The law is an ass.

Greening up the dirty business of advertising...

Advertising. It’s everywhere. It’s wasteful. It encourages overconsumption. It’s a menace to society. It sure makes a convenient scapegoat for many of society’s ills, doesn’t it? Well what if I were to tell you that there is now an eco friendly mode of advertising out there, that leaves the environment cleaner than before it was there?

Yes. It exists. GreenGraffitti, a service of Netherlands based graphic design/marketing firm Hemshaven, creates ads using three ingredients: Dirty, high foot traffic urban sidewalks, a stencil, and a high pressure water sprayer. Apply stencil to sidewalk, spray water, remove stencil, and you have a visually compelling, totally non polluting, long lasting (up to 6 months they claim) ad.

GreenGrafitti say it’s, “completely carbon neutral and contributes in a unique way to a healthier environment.” But the question comes to my mind, yes they’re not using paper, ink, PVC, etc, but what about all that water that’s used? They compensate for that using carbon offsets from Groenbalans The GreenGraffitti site says they offset, “From our water use to the kilometers we travel.” Really? Carbon offsets covering water usage I’ve not heard of.

However, moving beyond this one point, GreenGraffitti uses green web host Thinkhost, donate 5% of their profits to local organizations, and encourage clients to have them come back a few weeks later to completely clean the sidewalk where their ads have been placed.

Due to the simplicity of execution and ubiquity of the equipment needed, GreenGraffitti is available throughout Europe and even in the US but then again What message do you want to spread?

United's new away kit...

I am getting so busy these days that i have just managed to get a peek to United’s new kit. Just last week i was thinking of buying United’s tees and damn here’s the new one. The last kit i got was 3 season ago? (and that was also a free piece courtesy of Nissan Malaysia :-D).

Anyway Check out the new Shirts.Quite energetic and fresh.This will take me another few months before i get my hands on these ones.

Cleverest calender ever...!

I love ideas like this: bubble-wrap calendars. You pop each day when it's done. A company from Brooklyn sells them for $50--$50 for bubble wrap! I love the margins (profit) as much as the idea.

C Ron & Fletcher...sell or retain?

The funniest story I've heard of recently relates to the comedy store over at Eastlands and the ongoing saga of City's owner Thaksin "Frank" Shinawattra and "PastryGate" as the case has become known. Apparently three of Frank's lawyers have been sent to jail for trying to bribe three high court judges over the City owner's impending trial, the judges were given a cake-tin stuffed with £30,000 and told to "enjoy the contents"...

I mean how stupid can one be? Who would be daft enough to bribe three judges especially in such a cack-handed manner - and these lawyers were representing the City owner. You really could not make it up could you? No wonder John Wardle has resigned (smart one Jonnie).

Then today I have learnt that some United fans are for retaining the services of Darren Fletcher who has been recently linked to Everton and at the same time the same supporters would sell Ronaldo to Real Madrid, this isn't quite on the level of "pastrygate", but what is? But nonetheless, I'm completely gobsmacked and baffled. We have the best player in the world in the form of Ronaldo, yet these fans would let him go and keep Fletcher who probably isn't even the best player in Scotland or United's reserves.

On the subject of lunacy, here's a question; Is Sepp Blatter the most war-mongering Swiss citizen ever? His nation have always steered clear of getting involved in fights, but unlike his fellow compatriots the FIFA chief seems to thrive on conflict. So it comes as no surprise that Blatter has waded into the war of words between Manchester United and Real Madrid over the future of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The FIFA chief used the term "slave" when referring to the likes of Ronaldo and his contract with the champions. Given that Ronaldo is one of the highest paid players in the world the term slave seems wholly inappropriate and that is putting it mildly (if a slave command such handsome pay i don't mind be 1).

Not surprisingly, United have responded to Blatter's unwelcome intervention stating clearly that all contracts are signed with the agreement of all parties. Further to which if players can walk out on contracts at any stage - which is what Blatter seems to be implying, there will be complete anarchy - it would be a recipe for disaster. FIFA recently introduced new rules which stipulate when players can buy-out their own contracts, all of which has already been agreed by the clubs and Ronaldo signed his last contract under those rules.

Blatter would be best advised to keep his thoughts to himself on the Ronaldo situation, his job as head of the world governing body should be to ensure structures are in place to deal with such issues, he clearly shouldn't be seen to be favouring one side or the other in a player tug-of-war such as the Ronaldo situation, but he chooses to do so and so he is perceived as a maverick headline grabbing opportunist who treats FIFA as his own personal fiefdom.

On the futures of Ronaldo and Fletcher, I'd like to know how many Reds fans would sell Ronaldo and at the same time retain Fletcher...their cannot be that many surely? Otherwise the world has surely gone completely utterly mad and the loonies are indeed taking over.